Commentary: The power of just not buying it

Akilah Monifa, Progressive Perspectives on Mar 13, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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On Feb. 28, the activist group People’s Union USA organized a 24-hour “economic blackout.” The group called upon people to refrain from buying anything from big corporations that have knuckled under pressure from the Trump administration to cut back or eliminate their programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. With some exceptions, folks were encouraged to plan ahead and not buy anything from anyone except locally owned businesses.

“Feb. 28 is a symbolic start to economic resistance, a day where we show corporations and politicians that we control the economy,” the group wrote on its website. Time magazine noted that the economic blackout “appeared to specifically target mega corporations, citing stores like Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy. But consumers were encouraged to stop shopping overall.”

Boycott participants were also urged to stay off social media. All day.

When I heard about the blackout, I was reminded of other boycotts, particularly during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, I participated in my first boycott in Huntsville, Alabama. We did not buy new clothes from segregated stores because Martin Luther King Jr., in conjunction with the local churches, had organized a boycott. If we couldn’t shop at the stores by entering through the front door, we wouldn’t patronize them.

I was born the year after the Montgomery bus boycott ended, which took place from Dec. 5, 1955, to Dec. 20, 1956 in my home state of Alabama. The most notable boycott I recall during my lifetime was the grape-and-lettuce boycott, which, along with a strike, lasted from Sept. 7, 1965, to July 29, 1970. It was when I first heard the names Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.

The goal of these strikes, boycotts and demonstrations was to increase wages and working conditions of the farm workers. Two of the organizing unions merged and created the United Farm Workers (UFW).

Participating in a boycott, as I did once again on Feb. 28, involves a bit of sacrifice. I am a self-confessed Facebook and Amazon addict. I have rarely gone more than eight hours without posting on Facebook.

In the coming weeks, there will be many more opportunities to take part in these protests. The People’s Union USA has planned additional blackout days throughout the months of March and April. “The first domino that will set off a chain of actions until the people get what they deserve,” the group states on its website. “This is about solidarity and sending a clear message. We have the power.”

Meanwhile, the Rev. Jamal Bryant in Atlanta organized targetfast.org for Christians to boycott Target for 40 days starting Wednesday, March 5, the first day of Lent. The site includes a “Black Wall Street Ticker” to “track our collective dollars as we shift the economy.” And a “Voter Wallet” feature helps consumers “find Black businesses, redirect spending, and boycott where it matters.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, no stranger to boycotts and protests, said via his National Action Network website: “Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at.”

And the Feb. 28 blackout did have an impact, according to Pamela N. Danziger at Forbes magazine, who reported that Target’s app traffic was down while traffic at Costco, whose shareholders voted to affirm its strong commitment to DEI, was up. Walmart, the nation’s number one retailer, had a 5% slump in web traffic.

Of course, as was the case in earlier boycotts, a one-day blackout is not going to have much of an impact. But a sustained effort over many just might. I, for one, am willing to do what I can to extract a price from companies that turn their backs on policies meant to level the playing field for disadvantaged groups.

I will participate in the People’s Union USA and targetfast.org’s upcoming actions. The upcoming Amazon Blackout will be challenging. I have never in modern times gone a week without purchasing on the app. I am willing to give it up to be in solidarity.

Here’s to the 2025 boycotts and the restoration of DEI.

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Akilah Monifa of Oakland, California, is founder and editor-in-chief of BlackHistoryEveryday.com and developer of the Alexa skill “Black History Everyday.” This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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